City Beat

Association to hold its elections this month

General membership meeting planned for Jan. 3 to discuss year

By Kate Carter

The Willow Glen Business and Professional Association has a full complement of candidates for its executive board, and plans to hold elections for the uncontested positions later this month.

The business association will also hold a general membership meeting Jan. 3 at 7 p.m. at the Washington Mutual Bank, 1402 Lincoln Ave. The meeting will be to discuss the association's bylaws and further plan its goals and activities for the year, said Vice President Chris Carris.

Kara Finn of The Grapevine is running for association president. Katie Goforth of Casa Casa, Linda Waltrip of Park Place Vintage and Valerie Onorato of Q Advertising Services are running for first, second and third vice president, respectively.

Gina Granada of Bayview Bank is running for treasurer. Cathy Adkins of Willow Glen Books is running for secretary. Kay Wolf of Posey Garden Florist is running for recorder.

The association is in the process of revamping its priorities and organization, under guidance from San Jose's Office of Economic Development. The association oversees the use of dues paid by businesses within the Lincoln Avenue Business Improvement District.

Part of the association's plans include an entirely new executive board to take over for the few who have been running the organization almost single-handedly for the past few years. In addition, members had hoped to hold elections in December to have the new leadership in position for the new year.

Members had agreed to run for all but one of the positions by early December, but the required research to make sure the candidates were association members in good standing, meaning they had paid their dues, was delayed until late December, said elections committee Chairwoman Mimi Braatz. The candidate slate must be announced to the general membership 30 days before an election, she said, making the earliest the election could be held sometime in January.

Carris said the only complication is that Bayview Bank has not paid its association dues for several years. To be eligible as a candidate, therefore, he said, Granada herself will pay dues to become an associate member of the organization. The city will also ask Bayview Bank to pay its back dues, he said.

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